Steiner: Go for the Sure Thing When Buying Sports Memorabilia

The sports memorabilia market has undergone a ‘correction’ according to Brandon Steiner. The president of New York-based Steiner Sports has thousands of items in his company’s inventory, including game used and autographed items. Not everything’s a hit, though.

Steiner has paid big bucks to some athletes for exclusive autograph deals, only to see them fade away after making a quick splash on the scene. It’s a risky business, especially when the economy is still looking for solid ground and the 24-hour news cycle creates new, temporary heroes on a regular basis.

Steiner told TheStreet.com in an interview that there are “too many sure things” to take a lot of chances if you’re buying for future value or trying to build a solid collection. He’s now bullish on players who have already established themselves as all-time greats.

Steiner claims the mounds of information available on the internet should be enough to keep buyers from getting burned on fakes. “You don’t need to be buyer beware,” he told interviewer Greg Greenberg. “You need to be buyer educated. If you buy something that’s fake, you didn’t do your homework. You didn’t take your time.”

Rich is the editor and founder of Sports Collectors Daily. A broadcaster and writer for more than 30 years and a collector for even longer than that, he's usually typing something somewhere. Type him back at [email protected].